larry bird college stats

Maybe Bird wouldve spent the summer of 1975 celebrating the first of back-to-back national titles at IU, rather than playing for Hancock Construction, a state-champion AAU team sponsored by the mayor of Mitchell, Indiana, which was the only team capable of knocking off the mighty Indiana All-Stars in an exhibition. According to a warrant for Morrow's arrest, he's facing charges of assault by strangulation, second-degree kidnapping and communicating threats. Join our linker program. On May 12, 1997, Bird was named head coach of the Indiana Pacers. The small forward had just led Indiana State to a 33-1 season, with the team's sole loss coming to Magic Johnson . Martin Fennelly Former Sports columnist. They both finished their college playing careers in the spring of 1979. Larry Bird Overview | StatMuse In an effort to stop Bird, Bradley coach Dick Versace installed what was referred to as the "Bird's Nest Defense," where two defenders would guard Bird and the other three defenders would cover the four other Sycamores. IU peaked at No. Birth Year: 1956. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Learn more and register, International Stats at Basketball-Reference.com, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. As many observed, he would see plays not as they were developing, but before they developed. Bird's status as an Indiana sports legend was cemented by the spring of 1979. Larry Bird - bhavik blogs Thats what a coach has to do.. 10 Bird Was A Part Of The Most Watched College Game Ever Does the most recognized team in Hoosier history double or even, gasp, triple, its national championship haul with Bird in Bloomington in the mid-to-late 70s? However, he was eligible to be drafted without applying for "hardship" because his original college class at Indiana University had graduated. Larry Bird Fast Facts | CNN The Hoosiers beat Furman by one in the first round of the NCAA tournament, before losing by one to Villanova. Larry Bird's college stats were as incredible as his mustache he averaged more than 30 points and 13 rebounds in his collegiate career. Odds & lines subject to change. If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. RotoWire names five under-the-radar players who could add value to your rosters as we approach fantasy playoffs. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:03AM. Even the mild mannered Kareem Abdul Jabbar once decked Benson square in the jaw during a pro game, after being delivered one too mant rib shots by him. The next season, 1974-75, is where two of the greatest What ifs in IU basketball collide: What if Bird had stayed and what if Scott May, the teams second-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, hadnt broken his arm against Purdue in late February? That may have been to his detriment when he was a senior in high school. Larry Bird | Basketball Wiki | Fandom No other player in his era was as good or as consistent a shooter as Bird. Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Three-time NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986) Two-time NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986) . Bird passed Otis Birdsong to become the NCAA's fifth-leading scorer of all-timewith a free throw early in the championship game. He wasnt named to the Associated Press six-player All-State first team or nine-player second team, despite averaging 30 points and 20 rebounds, once putting up 55 points in a game for Springs Valley High School and 34 rebounds in another. Larry Bird was such a player. Larry Bird's best teammates included Robert Parish, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson. An undefeated IU team with a healthy Scott May or Larry Bird, let alone both, wouldve made for a compelling matchup with Woodens final UCLA team. But he has said many times over the years that he would have never been able to play for Bob Knight. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. Larry Bird Dominated Rodney Rogers in Dream Team Game After - Insider His NBA years : from 1980 to 1992 Larry Bird NBA Stats Summary : Do you have a sports website? Or write about sports? You can watch the full replay of the '79 title game below. This type of behavior was par for the course with Knight, but a new experience alltogether for Bird. The story behind the 1978 NBA draft, often known as the Larry Bird draft, is one of the most important in league history. Springs Valley in French Lick, Indiana, Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1998 (Full List), As Player: 897 G, 24.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 6.3 APG (Full Record), As Executive: IND franchise, 2003-2017 (Full Record). Andy Wittry has written for Stadium, SI.com, Sporting News, the Indianapolis Star, Louisville Courier-Journal and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Larry Bird redshirted (sat out) his freshman year, and therefore, like Maravich, Robertson, and Hayes, his totals were also achieved in only three . We talked Hoosiers with our buddy at Hoopla. An offseason trade with Golden State which that many consider the most lopsided in NBA history brought center Robert Parish and a future first-round pick (which became Kevin McHale) to Boston. Bird once again led the team in points (21.2 ppg), rebounds (10.9 rpg), steals (161), and minutes (3,239). Could you imagine Bob Knights reaction if, just three years after IU became the most recent undefeated national champion, the Hoosiers lost that distinction to an in-state school (and not even Purdue or Notre Dame, but Indiana State) that was led by an outbound IU transfer? But Knight was not impressed. Bird was named a special assistant in the Celtics front office, with limited duties that included some scouting and player evaluation. Bird was one of the best scorers in the country, a big forward who led the way for the Sycamores from the Missouri Valley Conference to the biggest national stage. Despite joking that he hoped he could get the Xs and Os right in the huddle, and that he didnt draw up any plays with himself in them, Bird approached his new role with typical aww-shucks aplomb. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. View Comments. Following a sophomore season that was shortened by a broken ankle, Bird emerged as a star during his junior year. I didn't say that Bird was the best college basketball player of all time. 2023 NCAA | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Larry Bird goes to the basket against DePaul in the 1979 Final Four. Bird helped rebuild a Celtics franchise that had been suffering from sub-standard play and poor attendance in the late 1970s. Extremely high basketball IQ, pure heart and hustle. List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career scoring leaders Stephen Curry has racked up 29,674 minutes and has played in 864 . Larry Bird's journey began in the small rural community of French Lick, Indiana. Larry Bird Biography: Career, Net Worth, Family, Top Stories for the What if IU hired Jerry Tarkanian instead of Bob Knight, What if IU had solved Syracuses zone in 2013. He just hammered him for being lackadaisical off of the screen and made him leave the open gym session. Larry Bird | Boston Celtics | NBA.com 2005-2023 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Larry Bird was a standout in Boston and one of the NBAs most iconic players ever. 7 Michigan State, No. He led the league in free-throw percentage four times. Looking at his stats alone, he is known as one of the greatest pure shooters in . He won the Rookie of the Year award, 3 MVP awards, 2 Finals MVP awards and 3 NBA championships. His Mom and Dad divorced while Bird was in HS, His dad shot and killed himself a year later. Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP. Its also fair to speculate that the south wall of Assembly Hall might be a little more crowded if Larry Bird had never transferred from IU. The only thing that wouldve been more painful for some IU fans than briefly landing Bird, only to see him become a folk hero up the road, would have been losing him to Kentucky. Larry Bird: The Greatest Basketball Player Of All Time Larry Bird - net worth, private life. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. An obsessive perfectionist, Bird was idolized by Celtic fans and basketball purists of all allegiances. McHale just destroyed him. The Celtics beat the Houston Rockets in '81 with Maxwell and Larry Bird leading the way and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in 1984 when Maxwell confidently told his teammates "to get on my back, boys" in the decisive . Layed him out cold. Bird recalls in his Book "Drive"--which he wrote late in his playing career-- how he never missed an opportunity to take it to Benson during their NBA days. And in the 2000 NBA Finals, the Pacers succumbed in a six-game series to the Lakers, led by Shaquille ONeal and Kobe Bryant, for the Lakers first of three consecutive titles. Bird didnt let the team down. All rights reserved. His focus was on the court. I ran across this short narrative while reading Bobby Knight's book- "Knight-My Story", and thought it might be interesting to share to the board. The Hoosiers were still very good, winning national titles in 1976 and 1981, and maybe Bird gives the Hoosiers another in 1975 or 1978, making that three chips in a six- or seven-year span. Bird was named the 1978-79 College Player of the Year and left Indiana State as the fifth-highest scorer in NCAA history. IU went 21-8 that season, finishing second in the Big Ten. Started collecting garbage upon his return to French Lick. At one time I believe Knight had Bird, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas in for recruiting. From his killer jump shot to his famous trash-talking, Bird could seemingly do it . In his first season, the Pacers with Reggie Miller as their main weapon were defeated by the defending-champion Chicago Bulls and Jordan in a tough seven-game conference finals series. Despite losing leading scorer Steve Green and John Laskowski after the 75 season, IU got the band back together in 1976 and finished what the Hoosiers came three wins away from achieving the previous year: an undefeated, national championship season as they became the NCAAs #1 All-Time March Madness team. "At 9 o'clock yesterday [Bill] Hodges went to wake up Bird for a brunch at which he was to receive the Player of the Year Award. In one of the only noteworthy gaffes of his career, Bird missed a routine layup in overtime that would have tied Game 4 of a playoff series with Cleveland that spring. It determined the balance of power in the NBA throughout the 1980s, arguably the most important era in NBA history, helping to reestablish the Celtics as the best team in the Eastern Conference during this time. Indiana State coach Bill Hodges, by the way, wasnt just in his first year as Indiana States head coach. Warn noted that Bird played baseball with the same energy he brought to the court: He plays the game just as he does basketball, with every ounce he has. Add the best version of Larry Bird in college, one capable of averaging roughly 30 and 15 at Indiana State, and the Hoosiers might have had another title contender in 1978 if the Hick from French Lick was still in Bloomington. IU had three one-possession losses in the 1976-77 season and three defeats by two possessions. All rights reserved. College: University of Hoosiers: Religion: Christian: Nationality: American: Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius: Gender: Male: Sexual Orientation: Straight: Marital Status: Married: . Cathie. Become an Annual VIP member today and get access to VIP content, ad-free forums & more. We had guys last year who didn't care about passing. His Mom and Dad divorced while Bird was in HS, His dad shot and killed himself a year later. Larry Bird Rookie Year Stats. Bird took just two shots that night and made both, according to the Philadelphia Daily News, while he helped teammates Carl Nicks and Steve Reed score 50 combined. Larry Bird was a co-star of one of the greatest college basketball national championship games ever Bird vs. Magic, when the undefeated Indiana State Sycamores took on the co-Big Ten champion Michigan State Spartans in the 1979 championship. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. What if former IU football coach Clyde Smith hadnt resigned after an open and undercover campaign to oust him? Home-game attendance hovered around 3,100 when Bird arrived at Indiana State, but as he had done in Springs Valley, Bird single-handedly packed the house and elevated his team to respectability and more. Hodges is credited with recruiting Larry Bird to Indiana State and coached Bird in the famous 1979 NCAA Final against Michigan State. Those would be my first two." When asked if personal statistics matter, he responded: "Yes, it is about numbers. The Celtics' legendary playmaker is the only person in NBA history to win MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year in a career. Maybe in ways that we cant totally appreciate, measure or describe, the NCAA tournament might just be five percent less today if Bird never winds up in Terre Haute. As a senior, Bird became the schools all-time scoring champion and about 4,000 people attended his final home game. The 1979-80 Celtics improved by 32 games to 61-21 and returned to the top of their division. They both finished their college playing careers in the spring of 1979. He started his college career in the fall of 1979. Bird was so self-confident that he was known to waltz up to the opponents bench before tipoff and predict a 40-point performance for himself. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Career information head-to-head including championships won, season and playoff stats, honors and awards and more. Gender: Male. Students skipped class to line up for tickets eight hours before tipoff. Benson, of course, was a God in Indiana. OT- How Bobby Knight "lost" Larry Bird To Indiana State! - 247Sports Then he left the local junior college, Northwood Institute. The former NBA player met his second wife, Dinah Mattingly, at Indiana State. Larry Bird's greatest clutch plays with the Celtics Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, former coach and former executive. Join our linker program. Larry Bird age, height, weight, net worth 2023, wife, kids, gay His back was also hurting, but Bird came back in the third period to help lift the Celtics to an emotional 124-121 victory. Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). One basketball coach, however, apparently missed the memo. Larry Bird. 1 pick in the 1977 NBA Draft, and Woodson. The guy had absolutely nothing. Larry Bird was born on as Larry Joe Bird to parents: Georgia and Claude Joseph "Joe" Bird, a veteran of the Korean War.He attended Springs Valley High School.